Damien Woody will exit ESPN, after 15 years
· Yahoo Sports
The purge of former NFL players continues at ESPN.
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Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that long-time analyst Damien Woody will not be retained when his contract expires later this month.
Woody shared the news of his departure on his own.
“Being at ESPN for 15 years, it’s been an absolute joy,” Woody told Marchand.
Woody will remain on the air through the expiration of the contract, at his choice.
The situation was handled far differently by ESPN than other recent layoffs. In multiple cases, the media found out before the employee did. In the case of Ryan Clark, ESPN chose to tell him that he was out while he was on the air.
A first-round pick in 1999, Woody spent 12 years with the Patriots, Lions, and Jets. He won a pair of Super Bowl rings in New England.
Now 48, Woody plans to continue his media career.
“At the end of the day, I just want to talk ball,” Woody told Marchand.
While ESPN has decided not to have Woody talk ball on its network, ESPN handled the situation much better than it handled Clark's ouster. Either ESPN learned a valuable lesson from the Clark fiasco, or ESPN always knew how to properly conduct such business but decided to stick it to Clark, for whatever reason.